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What has happened in Serie A this season to the Atalanta team should not be taken entirely as a judgment because Atalanta could have given their best game in the Champions League this season although I also do not imagine Atalanta could beat opponents like Arsenal easily. Because in the Champions League all teams will definitely put all their best abilities into play in order to win, especially this season each team will go through a different way in the Champions League which will require each team to develop a more precise strategy.
Atalanta performance was also not very impressive in Serie A last season, but in the Europa League they were able to show their best side by beating the two strongest candidates to be champions (Liverpool and Leverkusen) before finally confirming themselves as champions. Atalanta may be able to spring a surprise in the UCL, but Arsenal will not be easy to beat in their current form.
All teams always try to win in every match, but differences in quality and other unexpected things can change the outcome of the match. The new format is a bit tiring because the number of matches will increase, the coach must be able to keep his players to always maintain their best performance so they can qualify for the next round.
In my opinion, we cannot refer to last season's performance to assess Atlanta's current performance, because after all each team has experienced many changes in its squad and even this season Atlanta doesn't look promising at all to be able to compete strongly in the Champions League, Arsenal vs Atlanta will be a very decisive first match for both teams because if they lose points in the first match it will really affect their performance in the next match, especially if we look at the teams they are facing is not an easy team to beat so it is very important for Atlanta and Arsenal to be able to get points in every match they played.
The new format of the Champions League allows each team must focus because currently the match no longer plays a home away phase like the old format, because each team will meet once and there is no opportunity for those who lose to take revenge at this time, with the change in the current league format champions will require a team to have sufficient squad depth because otherwise it will be difficult for the team to face the tight schedule and also the increasing number of matches in champions league.